am Rhein
by Bag Of Badgers
Summary: Historical Germanbros fic. Prussia takes the Confederation of the Rhine under his wing, and the kid should probably get an actual name.


He's so _small_.

So small, thin and wan and quiet, standing there half-behind France with his eyes fixed on the ground and his hands clasped behind his back, and he hasn't said a word the whole time.

"Go on, _Confédération du Rhin_." France nudges him forward, not ungently. "You're living with Prussia now."

The Rhine Confederation stumbles a little, glances up at Prussia and then back down to the floor. He still makes no sound, and Prussia stares down at the too-familiar face before breathing out quickly through his teeth.

"C'mon," he says, taking the child's hand. Prussia pulls him along, honestly just wanting to get out of the tent where France stands, still with the grime of Waterloo under his fingernails — his Emperor may be in Saint-Helena but France is still _there_.

Prussia notices he's sped up, the child stumbling behind, and he stops.

Child.

Probably needs a new name, at that.

"So," Prussia begins, "what'd France call you?"

The child's voice is as small as the rest of him. "_Confédération du Rhin_." French doesn't sound quite right from his mouth, like a badly fitted jacket hanging off his thin shoulders.

"Your other name."

Just silence.

Silently cursing, Prussia goes back to walking, this time making sure to let him keep up. "Well, now you're the German Confederation — that's _Deutscher Bund_, can you say that?"

"_Deutscher Bund_," the child repeats obediently, and that sounds better.

"We'll figure out another name for you when we get back to Berlin."

The German Confederation stays silent as Prussia reports back to General Blücher, and as they make the jump back to Berlin. Prussia covers his eyes quickly as they finish the jump, he's planned this part out; and the German Confederation starts a little.

Hand still over the German Confederation's eyes, Prussia walks him into the Stadtschloss entry hall and he knows it's showboating but he really does want to show off so he uncovers the German Confederation's eyes and makes a sort of fanfare noise.

The Confederation just shrinks back against Prussia's leg.

The situation hasn't improved much at the end of the tour Prussia gives him; the German Confederation just trails behind him slowly and silently, and he's been lagging more and more behind.

Deciding he probably got the idea (which is that Prussia has much better official buildings than stupid foppish France), Prussia turns around. The child almost walks into his legs.

"Do you want something to eat?"

The German Confederation looks up and nods, quickly.

* * *

He's obviously hungry, and stares around much more vigorously in the kitchens, and when Prussia slides some stollen over to him he seems torn between eating and staying mannerly (_mannerly_, obviously Prussia couldn't let the kid go to Austria, he'd get even more weirdly polite and another priss would be too much for Prussia to handle).

Prussia seats himself across from him and nods at him. "Go on."

As the German Confederation eats, tentatively at first, Prussia swings a leg back and forth — old habit — and considers names.

_Heinrich_ keeps swimming up at him out of the back of his mind and he keeps pushing it away, Heinrich died on the Austerlitz field even if he might be sitting in front of him, _this is not Heinrich_. Prussia is going to make sure of that if nothing else, that this child is not going down Heinrich's road. He'll be stronger, he'll still fight but he'll know when to stop, a warrior —

There. "Hey."

The child looks up.

"How's 'Ludwig' sound?"

"H-hm?"

"Your name. Does 'Ludwig' sound like a good name?"

He thinks for a moment, eyes drifting to the table, and then nods once.

"Great. Mine's Gilbert, if I say so you can call me Bertl."

Ludwig glances up at him, still too small in a too-large jacket, but he looks more settled now. "Hello, Gilbert."

Gilbert laughs. "Hey. Now, France probably told you all kinds of sh — junk about me, so about now is a good time to set everything straight…"

And Ludwig listens.

* * *

the rhine confederation was the french-created german state in napoleonic europe, dissolved and turned into the german confederation after the congress of vienna/treaty of paris; prussia and austria spent the next roughly 60 years having custody fights over who got all the rest of the germanic regions


End file.
